A/N.: I planned this to be about the Uchiha meeting and about that only… yeah, as they say "Man proposes but God disposes". So it comes later in the chapter, but it's there! I swear it's there!
Enjoy!
The next day, Itachi was standing just outside the village's wall. He was waiting for one man, who introduced himself as Tobi the day before. It wasn't hard to talk to his father, he had a mission after all, and this was just the way he was going to accomplish it. And on a mission, Uchiha Itachi had his game face on, showing a serious, emotionless and confident shinobi, not the son of the clan head, and not a thirteen years old child (1).
He demanded the meeting, and he got an affirmative answer. They would gather at 6 in the afternoon. Now it was only 2, but he wanted to meet his mysterious accomplice. He wanted to make sure. What he wasn't expecting was that he showed up with a plant man and a child.
He vaguely remembered seeing the kid in town, and that nobody liked him particularly, but since he never paid attention to others, not counting his little brother, he didn't know the specifics. The boy seemed harmless enough, adorable even with wide blue eyes, the chubby face much like Sasuke's and the air of uncertainty. But he wasn't like his brother. He wasn't clinging to either of the men near him, not hiding, but standing on his own, if a bit defensively, and accessing Itachi like Itachi was accessing him. It was odd. A child this small should be this independent. But before he could start thinking of the implications, his thoughts were interrupted by the one he was waiting for initially.
"I gather you managed to call for a meeting." Tobi was watching him too, looking for any signs of comprehension. After all, Itachi was old enough to know that Naruto was a jinchuuriki, but he was young enough too, that maybe he didn't hear before the law of secrecy was installed. Knowing the way the clan pushed Itachi, it was no surprise that he didn't know, he didn't have time with all his training, missions, and exams for promotions, and his brother, Sasuke. It was a relief truth to be told.
"Yes, the meeting will start at 1800 (2). There should be no complications." Itachi was curious about the man's companions, but he decided that it could wait until they completed his mission. If it was important, he would be told anyway. And he was right.
Tobi gestured to the plant man. "This is my companion Zetsu. He will make sure that everyone is there and no problem arises. He will also be there with Naruto-kun to see the proceedings." He was looking at the blond now. "Let's hope they can remain there till the end." He was smiling now, but you could only tell by Naruto's face, that mirrored the expression, that he saw, who knows how, and smiling back at the man.
They separated again after this, each going on their way. Obito took Naruto to a little place to have a late lunch. They couldn't go like they were, but Obito's eye was powerful, and he was gifted in the art of genjutsu, so they had an uneventful time, Naruto talking about Sandaime, who visited him once and again, but not much more. On the other hand he was asking Obito about all of the people in Akatsuki, and how they met, and what their story was and their everyday life, and everything else he could think of.
Obito shared gladly. Naruto would be one of them in a short while, if he didn't belong already, so he would be part of the family. They went to buy some appropriate clothes after eating. With the genjutsu on them, they looked like a nondescript pair of father and son, their size unchanged, so it was no problem going into one store or the other.
In the end, Naruto had new undergarments, T-shirts varying from vivid colors to plain blacks, browns, greens and blues. He got various shinobi pants, like the standard issue blue and black ones, he got camouflage patterned green and brown ones, even a white pair from an extra warm and thick material, and a few shorts in sand, blue and green colour. It was mostly to help him blend in with his surroundings no matter where he had to go. He got a coat that went to his knees, that was reversible, one side a dark greyish color, the other a shade darker than his blue pants, and nearly making his wide, light blue eyes glow. He got a matching thick white coat with the pants too, which had fur on its hood, and like his other coat lot of pockets, but this one only reached the middle of his tights.
All in all, he had a complete wardrobe sealed into various scrolls, and his mind was reeling. After living this long with two pairs of jump suits, three T-shirts and pair of underpants, this much clothing was weird, but the thing was, he could see the use in every one of them. They weren't useless, any one of them.
After calming down a little, he saw that they were nearing a shoe shop. He felt his eyes boggle. Okay, so it seemed that he was a bit fast to declare their shopping trip concluded, but this should be the last stop.
Again, after one pair of standard shinobi sandals that he already used to its capacity, which meant it was practically falling off his feet, he got a new pair, this time just like his old ones, a blue with open toes, a black pair with closed ones, and white heavy boots, with metal enhancement at the toes.
Now, Naruto was sure that this was all they would do, and now head for the meeting or do something else till then, but he was wrong again. There was a weapon and accessory shop that who knows how it developed. This place sold not only weapons and pretty things for girls, but also headband materials, bandanas, bandages, wristlets, and training equipment.
It really was practical, because they needed almost everything from there. A simple pair of sunglasses, three types of bandana, blue, green and brown camouflage, and white respectively, training weights which were wide, covering both all of Naruto's forearms, and shins to help distributing the weights. He got a new set of kunai and shuriken, also a pair of trench knives with the ability to absorb chakra. He got two pairs of fingerless gloves, both with metal plates on them, a black and a white one and as usual, the white was a thicker material with the finger parts covering the second knuckles (3) too. Also a few rolls of bandages of course, and lastly Obito gave him a present, a thin necklace from black leather, with a pendant, that had a yellow drop shaped stone on it, the color of Naruto's hair. It wasn't big or fancy, but it suited him. And he was glad to have a first present like this.
They went back to the hideout, just for a short time. Obito was adamant in making Naruto change his clothes to the new ones, and seeing that he already had the necklace on, he chose a wider collared tee, that was a darker shade of yellow, nearing brown, with his new gray coat, black pants and the black boots. He used the bandages to wrap up the bottom of his pants and wore his black gloves. All in all, if he wanted to blend in the night, he was dressed appropriately, but it was clear that he wasn't on a mission from the T-shirt he wore. He opted the bandanas out, again, because it wasn't a mission situation.
When he was ready, Obito looked him over before nodding approvingly, and handing him all the scrolls they accumulated on their little trip. He discovered that his coat had enough places for all his things, but took the weapons and hid them into his pants. Looking up again, he saw the man grinning wildly at him, when they got inside he took off the mask, and holding up the practice weights for both arms and legs.
Naruto couldn't help, but sigh in exasperation. "You could've given them to me before I changed and loaded my clothing you know." Obito just grinned wider.
"I know." Was all he said and handed Naruto them. They only had one space filled with weights, the other ones, that will fill the other places were also sealed away and already in Naruto's coat. Putting on the ones on his arms was easy, just rolling up the sleeve of his coat, putting them on and rolling the sleeves down. His shins were covered in bandages though, so he had to unroll them first and then doing them again when he was finished. The weights had a chakra based switch on them, so while Naruto now only had on one kg (4) each, they could go up to five kg, and he had another three for each limb that were similar.
Obito told him, that while it was convenient that they could increase the weight this way, first he would have to have all the others in place too, so as not to unbalance it too much. And of course he would be able to store other things in their place, like food or information or anything that needed delivering.
When they were done, they started walking towards the village in a sedated pace, both of them silent for the first few minutes.
"Zetsu will meet us at the wall. He is scouting now." Obito told Naruto, but it was obvious that he wanted to say something else; this was just to break the silence. "Do you know why I gave you the weights only at the end?" He asked after a bit.
Naruto looked up, interest piqued. "To make things difficult?" He asked back, unsure. He didn't think there was a reason.
"No, but it was funny, seeing you sulk about it." Obito laughed a bit and ruffled the kid's soft hair. "It was to see if you would think before acting. We bought them to train you muscles, and there is no better time to start then now. If you think of the consequences before you act, you can avoid many unpleasant things from happening. Now it was only an added time and a bit of ire, but if you are a shinobi, your and others' life will depend on you. The choices you make will affect others too, the things you say, and do." Obito stopped, kneeling down to Naruto and taking down his swirl mask. Looking into those blue eyes, he continued. "I want you to train with this too. Before you do anything. Before you eat, before you rush into something, before you say something, try imagining what will happen if you do it like you planned, and then try imagining what you want to be the thing you want as an outcome and how to achieve that." He stopped here, knowing it would be hard. Naruto most likely avoided thinking too hard, because when he did, it included the village and his feelings before. Maybe now it would be easier. "In the beginning I'll help if you want me to, and I'll definitely remind you to do it." He said seriously. It was a skill Naruto needed even if he chose another path later.
Naruto nodded, feeling the seriousness of the situation. He would try and try again. "Okay, I'll do it." And he wasn't someone who went back on his word, even if he was young. This was for his sake. The least he could do was to follow Obito niisan's guidance.
They met up with Zetsu, and after helping Naruto get inside the Venus flytrap, they separated again, Obito taking to the roofs and they sank into the ground, emerging from the roof of a huge hall, full of ninja.
At last, Obito showed up, with his mask on again, and Itachi at his side. As they made their way to the front of the room, there were murmurs everywhere, questioning what they were doing there, and whet an outsider had to do with it all. They also wanted to know just who he was.
Fugaku was the one to start it all. "We gathered on the request of my son, Itachi. He said this concerns everyone here." He looked to his son, expectantly, in his gaze also implying that it would be prudent to introduce the other man. Seeing this, Tobi touched Itachi's arm lightly, and after getting his attention he simply asked. "If I may?" To which he got a nod, and promptly stepped forward.
"My name is Tobi. And I'm here to make you face the truth." It was almost fatalistic, the way he said it, but both Itachi and Naruto could picture him rolling on the floor laughing in his mind. The other members of the clan were outraged. How dare this no name come and accuse them? They would show him just where he belonged.
Tobi raised his hands in a placating gesture, stalling any action for a bit. "Hear me out, and if you still feel this way by the end, we can fight all you want." This didn't ease the tension, but they acknowledged the option. They would do it at the end. After all, they were better than this person, there was no way they wouldn't put him to place when he finished.
"First of all, I want to ask you. Were any of you happy raised to be cold and unfeeling, never getting recognition, never feeling the warmth and love of a family, growing up with the reputation of the clan on your shoulders?" He already had his hands raised in the same gesture as before, knowing the kneejerk reaction to this. "I don't want verbal answers, just think about it. What would it be like if the kids play at home, get hugs and have the family life of those that only have family and not a clan? What would it be like if they were praised for every accomplishment and not being demanded to give more, to do better, if their parents were proud of what they actually achieved and not worrying about being good enough to reach the standards of the clan?"
He saw the reactions. Some were looking at him like he was an idiot, but more and more were paying rapt attention to him. "I think you reversed the cause and the result. You don't demand things before giving affection; your child wants to make you happy and striving to be better because they love their family and clan." Now, he had almost everyone's attention. It was good, they were thinking.
"What happens now, when a child is good enough? Like Itachi here, he has impossible expectations heaped on him. And he either reaches and got more expectations, he doesn't and becomes a 'failure', or he breaks. There's no way to be happy with these conditions. And if there is an average child it's the same. The ones you decide aren't good enough from the start have to live with feeling like they failed their loved ones their whole life. Please consider this."
He saw the older ones contemplative, the middle aged a bit shame faced and the younger ones wistful. He looked back to Itachi, but didn't see any change in him, he was standing half behind Tobi, like a subordinate would in a mission briefing. He caught the teen's eyes, and saw him nod. He felt almost gleeful. It was time to drop the bomb. He could imagine himself insanely cackling and rub his hands together.
"There is also another point I'd like to discuss with you before leaving." He said, tone empty of any feeling. "We know of your plan." Some already gave themselves away, reacting violently to this, but the others were more seasoned. "Now don't get me wrong, I don't plan to go to the Hokage or anyone with this, but I want you to consider a few things." Not that they didn't know already, he thought to himself.
"One of that, is what you will do after the coup? What will change if you are successful?" He asked. He saw people trying to answer these questions to themselves. They couldn't come up with an answer of course. "The other is what will happen to Konoha and more importantly to the clan if you fail? What will happen to the children? What about you so called reputation and pride?" Now this shook up some of them. Actually it affected more than he thought it would. More than half of the people there were looking like they saw a ghost, or the horrible things they saw came back to haunt them, seeing family members in the place of strangers.
"Lastly, I want to ask you, as Konoha's ninja. What will be the consequences for the village if you try going through with your plan? It doesn't matter if you win or lose, the village will be weaker, and there's bound to be an attack from another of the five villages." He stopped, knowing they had to have a reason in the first place.
"So you want us to endure? To have our people disappear one by one? We don't even know who does it, and they don't do anything! We asked the council and the Hokage, but the elders stopped any investigations, and the Sandaime is weak. He can't do anything against those three!" It was one of the older men of the clan; he was from the Military Police. "We tried to search on our own, but they block the police every turn! I want to know who kidnapped my son, and what they did to him!" There were several similar exclamations, their strength growing by the second.
Tobi brought up a finger, and stepped back a few paces, just as a white Zetsu emerged from the floor, bringing the requested information. They were on the lookout for Orochimaru and Danzou either way, so it was easy to know what was going on.
After hearing what he had to say, Tobi signalled to Zetsu to go back to his post, and walked back to his previous place. His mask didn't show his face, but his aura turned murderous.
"My companion informed me of the happenings. The one kidnapping people is the sannin Orochimaru. He seeks a way to become immortal. We know he wasn't successful so far. He also tried genetically altering children with the Shodai Hokage's DNA, and other experiments. Most of the captured people died in the proceedings." There was no question what will happen now, but there was another man that needed mentioning.
"Also the reason the elders blocked you." He took a deep breath, trying and failing miserably at calming himself. "Danzou deemed these experiments 'favorable to the village'." The sarcasm dripped from him by this point. "And he supports Orochimaru, which is supported by the fact that he has a wood user in his organization, the ROOT. The other two are just following his lead." And just like that, the hatred turned from the Hokage to two of the most dangerous people in the village.
Itachi was horrified. Danzou was the one who suggested murdering his own clan! He was the one to propose that he go rouge and spare the clan the humiliation and he almost succeeded! He had to tell, he couldn't stop. His mission was invalid by this point and he was a part of the clan, of the family.
He stepped forward, glancing at the other, but quickly turning back, to his family. Obito knew, he understood anyway.
"I met Danzou two days ago." He started effectively silencing everyone, and gaining their attention. "He knew of the coup the clan planned. He gave me a mission as a 'faithful Konoha shinobi'." He was beating himself up by this point, but he would tell them, he would clear this whole mess up.
"He gave me a choice. Either I join the clan and turn against the village, or I murder everyone, including the children and the civilians, become a nukenin and save my family's reputation." He didn't elaborate, but the second he glanced at the man next to him, it was obvious they were saved by this man, and only by the skin of the teeth.
This also made the people think. I one of their own was so close to turn on them, then things had to change. And drastically at that!
"I want to call for a clan meeting two days from now!" The older man, who spoke up before voiced after a brief silence. It was confirmed quickly but before they could start talking about it, Tobi interrupted them again.
"I would like to ask everyone here, to concentrate now on the clan and only that. In two days, I'll come to the meeting too, and I'll bring two presents with me." This was as close as he'd come to admit that he was going to murder two prominent figures of the village. Somehow nobody minded much.
After that, they were dismissed, each and every member deep in thought. There was much to be done and much to think about before they even attempt to do anything.
Tobi met Zetsu, Naruto and Itachi again in the shadows of the village walls. He knew the teen was following him, and he knew why too.
"I'm going with you." It wasn't even a question. Tobi didn't have to ask why, after all, he almost made the worst mistake of his life, and the cause was going to die shortly. There was no way he wouldn't get his part in it.
"I know. One today, the other tomorrow. Orochimaru closes himself in his lab for days, and only contacts Danzou or his agents once a month. If we can get in and out without Danzou's spies seeing us, we're set." Orochimaru was the more volatile of the two, and the easier to conceal once he disappeared.
Turning to the other two, Obito said. "I'll have to go now, so please wait for me at the house. Both of you." He got only a nod from Zetsu, but Naruto raised his arms towards him. He got out of the flytrap the second they were out, and now was next to Zetsu. Obito squatted down, curious to see what will happen.
To his surprise and delight, Naruto hugged him. "Be careful." He told Obito, clearly including Itachi too.
Obito straitened smiling and nodded. Then both man and teen disappeared, while the other two went to their temporary home.
Two days later, there were two heads waiting at the main meeting hall of the Uchiha clan. There were serious discussions and drastic changes after that. Konoha was baffled to see this, but they didn't ask. Curiously everyone welcomed this change, but the Hyuuga clan who scoffed at it all.
(1) Itachi was 14 when killing his clan if I remember well, and he's 5 years older than Naruto and Sasuke, so I'm going in the middle, with Naruto 7, and him 13. I know it isn't punctual, but bear with me please!
(2) Again, 1800=18:00=6:00PM. I don't think I'll mention this again, so just subtract 12 hours, and you got the time in PM.
(3)As far as I know, the first knuckle is the one joining into the palm, the second is further down the fingers, so while the black gloves are like Kakashi's in black, the whites cover more and give more warmth while leaving the tips free to help grabbing things, and doing techniques – releasing chakra from fingers without another layer of clothes on top.
(4) 1kg = 2.20462262 pounds ~ 2.2 pounds.
A/N.: Damn, I didn't plan it to be this long. I hope it wasn't boring. What do you think? Any requests? Who should die/live? Who should be worse or better? :D I already have a few plans, but I'm open to suggestions.
2013.04.26.
